Recommended Read Alouds During the Winter Months

I shared this content with my staff in my weekly Friday Focus today. Thought it might work on the ol’ blog too. -Matt

When it’s this cold outside, I find reading aloud a good book to my kids to be even more inviting than usual. Here are some favorites from home and the classroom. Several were suggested by Mary Lou Manske from Book Look in Stevens Point. Maybe you will deem them worthy of sharing with your own children and/or your students.

If you liked Charlotte’s Web and Babe, you will enjoy this story. A pig named Flora is looking for an adventure. When the opportunity presents itself to join a team of sled dogs for a trip across Antarctica, she takes advantage of it. Little does she know that her purpose on this adventure is not what she initially had in mind. Finn and Violet keep wanting me to read the next chapter.

An essential read aloud for classrooms grades 5 and up. The story is told through the perspective of Joey Pigza, a student who suffers from ADHD. Many discussions around the topics of school discipline, the human brain, and empathy can be facilitated through this story.

From Goodreads: “Introducing Isabel, aka Bunjitsu Bunny! She is the BEST bunjitsu artist in her school, and she can throw farther, kick higher, and hit harder than anyone else! But she never hurts another creature . . . unless she has to.” It would be a great read aloud for those short moments during school. Each tale has a life lesson to offer. Very funny and full of wisdom.

This young adult work of fiction, the first in a series, is a lot of fun. The pacing of the narrative, along with references to classic mysteries that came before plus the supernatural aspect, made this a challenge to put down. Jackaby is a Sherlock Holmes-type character with the ability to sense people’s auras and “see” creatures in human disguise. It will keep you guessing.

In 1976, Sunny visits her grandfather in Florida. But why? The authors go back and forth in time to tell an important story about family dynamics and our vulnerabilities. An accessible text for a wide range of readers. The Holms also include lots of humor related to this era and demographic. My favorite scene is when two of “grampa’s girls” tell Sunny to take home that extra roll from the restaurant. “In case you get hungry later.” Spot on!

A sparse text describing a memorable time in a young girl’s life, this everybody book works well as a mentor text for teaching small moment writing. The illustrations serve as a companion to the language, providing clues about the main character’s feelings about the roller coaster. With some modeling by the teacher first, students can take their personal experiences to create small moment writing.

This middle level novel offers a compelling situation – a successful student who accidentally brings a paring knife in her lunch is considered for expulsion because of a zero tolerance policy about weapons. I could see this book sparking some good conversations in class about discipline and the decisions we make in school. The suggested age range is 8-12, but I would recommend it for students 5th grade and up due to the content and language.

But Sally notices everything—from the twenty-seven keys on the janitor’s ring to the bullying happening on the playground. One day, Sally has had enough and decides to make herself heard. And when she takes a chance and stands up to the bullies, she finds that one small girl can make a big difference.”

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

Author: Matt Renwick

Matt Renwick is an 18-year public educator who began as a 5th and 6th-grade teacher in Rudolph, WI. He now serves as an elementary principal for the Mineral Point Unified School District (http://mineralpointschools.org/). Matt also teaches online graduate courses in curriculum design and instructional leadership for the University of Wisconsin-Superior. He tweets @ReadByExample and writes for ASCD (www.ascd.org) and Lead Literacy (www.leadliteracy.com).
View all posts by Matt Renwick